Read Online Fablehaven: The Complete Series by Brandon Mull - Free Book Online

looked mildly distressed at her approach. “I can’t let Lena see you talking to me like this,” he murmured in low tones. “I’m supposed to put the milk out on the sly.”
     
    “I thought nobody knew you put the milk out.”
     
    “Right. See, your grandfather doesn’t know, but Lena does. We try to keep it our secret.”
     
    “I was wondering what the milk tastes like.”
     
    He looked nervous. “Didn’t you hear me last time? You could get . . . shingles. Scabies. Scurvy.”
     
    “Scurvy?”
     
    “This milk is a bacterial stew. That’s why the insects like it so well.”
     
    “I have friends who have tried milk fresh from the cow. They survived.”
     
    “I’m sure those were healthy cows,” Dale said. “These cows are . . . never you mind. Idea is, this ain’t just any milk. It’s highly contaminated. I wash my hands good after even handling the stuff.”
     
    “So you don’t think I should taste it.”
     
    “Not unless you’re aiming for a premature burial.”
     
    “Would you at least take me in the barn to see the cows?”
     
    “See the cows? That would be breaking your grandfather’s rules!”
     
    “I thought the point was we might get hurt,” Kendra said. “I’ll be fine if you’re with me.”
     
    “Your grandfather’s rules are your grandfather’s rules. He has his reasons. I’m not about to go breaking them. Or bending them either.”
     
    “No? Maybe if you let me see the cows, I’ll keep your secret about putting out the milk.”
     
    “Now see, that’s blackmail. I’ll not stand for blackmail.”
     
    “I wonder what Grandpa will say when I tell him at dinner tonight.”
     
    “He’ll likely say you ought to mind your own affairs. Now, with your leave, I have chores to do.”
     
    She watched him walk away with the tin of milk. He surely had acted defensive and strange. There was definitely some mystery surrounding the milk. But all the talk about bacteria made her reluctant to try it. She needed a guinea pig.
     
* * *
     
    Seth tried a flip off the boulder into the pool, but landed on his back. He never could quite make it all the way around. He surfaced and stroked to the side to try again.
     
    “Nice back-flop,” Kendra said, standing beside the pool. “That was one for the blooper reel.”
     
    Seth climbed out of the water. “I’d like to see you do a better one. Where have you been?”
     
    “I found out a secret.”
     
    “What?”
     
    “I can’t explain. But I can show you.”
     
    “Good as the lake?”
     
    “Not quite. Hurry up.”
     
    Putting a towel over his shoulders, Seth stepped into his sandals. Kendra led him away from the pool through the garden to some flowering shrubs on the outskirts of the yard. Behind the plants lay a large pie tin full of milk where a crowd of hummingbirds were feeding.
     
    “They drink milk?” he asked.
     
    “Yeah, but that isn’t the point. Taste it.”
     
    “Why?”
     
    “You’ll see.”
     
    “Have you tried it?”
     
    “Yes.”
     
    “What’s the big deal?”
     
    “I told you, try it and you’ll see.”
     
    Kendra watched curiously as he kneeled by the tin. The hummingbirds dispersed. Seth dipped a finger into the milk and put it on his tongue. “Pretty good. Sweet.”
     
    “Sweet?”
     
    He lowered his head and puckered his lips against the surface of the milk. Pulling back, he wiped his mouth. “Yeah, sweet and creamy. A little warm, though.” Looking beyond Kendra, his eyes bulged. Seth jumped to his feet, screaming and pointing. “What the heck are those?”
     
    Kendra turned. All she saw was a butterfly and a couple of hummingbirds. She looked back at Seth. He was turning in circles, eyes darting around the garden, apparently perplexed and amazed.
     
    “They’re everywhere,” he said in awe.
     
    “What are?”
     
    “Look around. The fairies.”
     
    Kendra stared at her brother. Could the milk have totally fried his brain? Or was he messing around with her?